Glycosaminoglycans, structural analysis

For the enzymic analysis of polysaccharide structure, the hydrolytic enzymes are the most useful, and little attention will be paid in this article to other types of enzyme. No consideration at all will be accorded enzymes acting on non-carbohydrate moieties. For diis reason, heteropolysaccharide-peptide and lipopolysaccharide complexes (such as those from bacterial cell-walls) are not discussed, as satisfactory treatment of these would also require mention of other types of enzyme, such as amidases for coverage of this subject, an authoritative text and several reviews - may be consulted. Other types of carbohydrate-containing macromolecule, such as glycosaminoglycans ( mucopolysaccharides ) and glycoproteins, for which it is relatively easy to restrict consideration to the polysaccharide portion, are discussed, but only with reference to their carbohydrate moieties. 

Until recently, the work in this area has been insuflScient to warrant its review, but some papers on the biochemistry and pathophysiology of connective tissue (F9) are relevant. In consideration of the reports available, it must be borne in mind that comparisons made outside a particular circle of experiments may be invalid on account of the different conditions of the subjects, and conditions and methods for isolation, separation, and measurement of the macromolecules. Many such methods both for tissues and fluids have been reported (see reviews cited in Section 1.1), and it is imperative to ensure that the isolation and separation processes are effective (see B15, K12). Microscale methods have been devised to function on a few micrograms of material for component analysis (e.g., B16 see K17), but more particularly for the eomplete identification of a glycosaminoglycan on a basis of chemical structure (e.g., B13, B14). 

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